Grid trimming press



Aug. 7, 1934.

A. R. .WILLARD GRID TRIMMING PRESS Filed Oct. 8, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet lHaj.

Aug- 7, 1934- A. R. wlLLARD GRID TRIMMING PRESS Filed Oct. 8, 1952 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug 7, 1934. A. R. WILLARD 1,969,390

GRID TRIMMING PRESS Filed Oct. 8, 1932 Sheets-Sheet 3 avid/mmf@ Aug 7,1934- A. R. WILLARD 1 1,969,390 I GRID TRIMMING PRESS v /NVENTOE ,4LFlei @IMM/F12 @'Mmym Aug- 7, 1934- A A. R. WILLARD 1,969,390

l GRID TRIMMING PREss Filed 0G13. 8, 1932' 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 iatentedAug. 7,l 1934 UNITED STATES GRID TRIMM'ING PRESS Alfred R. Willard, EastCleveland, Ohio, assignor to Willard Storage Battery Company, Cleveland,Ohio, a corporation of West Virginia Application October 8,

Z Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in grid trimming presses, that isto say presses for trimming off excess or waste metal from grids forstorage batteries, which are cast ordinarily from leadv or lead alloy.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide mechanical means forfeeding the grids to the press and for collecting them in stackedrelation after the trimming operation is performed.

Another object is the provision of means for maintaining the grids instacked relation in a magazine and presenting them one at a time fromsaid magazine to the action of a transfer mechanism which abstracts themfrom the magazine and carries them into position for being trimmed.

. Another object of the invention is the provision of transfer mechanismcapable of swinging through a predetermined angle into a plane parallelwith the plane of the trimming die, and then traveling bodily to carrythe grid parallel to itself into trimming position, and thereafterreturning to its initial position.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means for timingthe operations of the press to conform with those of the magazine andtransfer portions of the machine.

Another object is the provision of special means for dislodgingthe gridsfrom the press and assisting them in their travel onto the collectingapparatus.

Still another object is the provision of means for stripping the trimmedmetal from the grid and from the trimming knife when the cut has beenmade.

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as I proceed with thedescription of that embodiment of the invention which, for the pur- Iposes of the present application, I have illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, invwhich Figure 1 isa side elevational view of a machineembodying my invention, showing the transfer ngers in position todeposit a grid upon the trimming die.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the machine. l

Fig. 3 is a fragmental detail side elevational view on a larger scale,showing the transfer fingers in gripping position upon a grid and thetransfer mechanism just upon the point of swinging the grid rout of themagazine.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on a large scale, of a fragment of the press,showing the die and punch and the stripper mechanism, and

Figs. 5 to 9 inolusiveare detail views of cam .mechanisms employed inthe machine.

1932, Serial No. 636,837

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the views.

A press of the more or lessA conventional form is indicated at 10,mounted upon a frame or base 11. The latter is in turn mounted uponasubbase 12, to which is also attached a frame 13 positioned directly infront of the frame 11 and rigidly connected thereto through theintermediacy of the sub-base 12. The press 10 may be provided withguides 14, within which slides a head 15 that is adapted to bereciprocated by connecting rods 16 having eccentric connections with themain shaft 17 of the press, The latter shaft may be driven in theordinary manner from an electric motor 18, having a pinion 19 meshingv70 with a large gear on a fly-wheel 20 that is loose on the shaft 17 andadapted to be operatively connected therewith by a clutch 9 during asingle revolution of the shaft, a trip mechanism, being employed to setthe clutch, and automatic means being employed to disengage it at theend of its revolution, all in a marmer and by mechanism known in theart' and not herein illustrated in detail.

In the press 10 there is a bed 2l to which 80 is suitably secured a die22 carrying a pair of stops 23 which project upwardly from the surfaceof the die and are adapted to support a grid G by engagement with itslugs. 'I'he punch 15 may comprise a forward knifef 24 for trim- 85 mingthe upper edge of the grid and a pair of short lateral knives 25 forcutting the grid lugs to length. The bed of the press laterally of thedie is provided with inclined surfaces 26 and 27 in order to morereadily discharge any trimmings that may be deposited thereon.

Near the center ofthe die 22 I form an opening within which is mountedupon a hinge pin 28 a sort of trap door 29, the upper surface of whichis ush with the upper surface of the main portion of the die when thedoor is closed. At its forward end it is pivotally connected with a rod30. When the latter rod rises, as it does in the operation of the press,the trap door 29 swings upon its pin 28 and the grid G is lifted sufd-100 ciently to dislodge it from the die and to disengage it from thestops 23, whereupon gravity 'causes it to be discharged.

On the plunger 15 I mount a bracket 31, upon which is pivotallysupported a stripper plate 32, the free end of the latter being secured,as shown in Fig. 4, to a coil spring 33 which bears at its upper endagainst an angle bar support 34, also carried by thel plunger 15. Whenthe knife 24 descends to .makeI a cut the hinge pinpof the 11".ofhthepr'ess, I employ a pair lof jogger rails 56 plate 32 descendswith it, but inasmuch as the spring 33 is relatively light the plate 32swings upwardly, storing up energy in the spring while the cut is beingmade. As soon as the knife 24 starts on the return stroke however theenergy thus built up becomes effective to snap the trimming T downwardinto a suitable waste receptacle, not shown.

The grids, when they are discharged from the press as above explained,may be collected and stacked by any suitable means for the purpose, butI prefer to employ that illustrated in the drawings wherein I utilize aframe 35. attached to the press 10 and supported at its outer end byinclined braces 36 running to the base 11 of the press. Upon this frameI mount a shaft 37 which is adjustable therein and which carries a pairof sprocket wheels, no t shown, over which run two endless chains 38,the inner bights of which run upon sprockets carried by a shaft 39. Thetwo chains 38 are spaced apart just far enough to receive grids Gbetween them and to support the grids by their lugs.

On the shaft 39 there is loosely mounted an arm 40, to which ispivotally connected a pawl 41 that is adapted to cooperate with aratchetwheel 42 which is secured upon shaft 39. To the outer end of arm 40there is pivotally connected an adjustable link 43 that is connected tothe lower end of a long lever 44 that is pivoted upon the press 10 at45, and is provided at its upper end with a follower 46 running upon aneccentric or cam 47 secured to shaft 17. It will be obvious that eachtime the shaft 17 makes a revolution the arm 40 is caused to oscillate,and that the ratchet wheel 42 with its shaft 39 is thereby rotatedthrough a certain small angle, advancing the chains 38 accordingly, sothat there is always room for the next grid to be deposited upon thechains.

The connecting rod 30 for the trap door 29 is also operated by the shaft17, being connected at its lower end with a rock lever 48 pivoted to thepress 10 at 49, the other arm of the lever being pivoted to a connectingrod 50 which` is eccentrically mounted at 51 upon the end of shaft 17.The trap door 29 by this means is `therefore swung upwardly once foreach reciprocation of the head of the press.

The grid magazine, and the mechanism for transferring grids therefrom tothe trimming press, will now be described.'

At the top of the frame 13 I mount', partially upon a brace rod 52 ofthe frame, a pair of grid supporting rails 53, which are inclineddownwardly away from the front of the machine. These two rails arerigidly mounted' and are spaced apart far enough to receive gridsbetween them with the lugs of the grids resting upon the upper surfacesof the rails. On account of the inclined position of the rails the gridstend to slide down to the forward end thereof. At such forward end thereare stops 54 so positioned at either side of the magazine as to engagethe lugs of the foremost grid when resting upon the rails, and there isalso a bottom stop 55 adapted to engage the bottom edge of the foremostgrid. Hence, if the foremost grid is raised, far enough to clear thestop 55 and to enable its lugs to clear the two side stops 54, it may beextracted from l the magazine.

In order t maintain the grids in the magazine in closely stackedrelation at the lower end thereof so-that there will be no interruptionto the action which are pivotally mounted at their rear ends upontrunnions 57 carried b'y the rigid portion of the magazine. At theirforward ends these jogger rails are pivoted to connecting rods 58 whichare caused to move up and down at regular intervals, as will bepresently explained. When the rails 56 move upwardly they engage thelower edges of the grids in the magazine and lift thegrids sufficientlyto disengage their lugs from the xed rails 53. The upper edges of theraised grids then tend to fall forwardly tottake up any space there maybe between the upper edges of the grids. the rails 56 descend howeverthey lower the lugs of the grids onto the fixed rails 53 and then swingout of engagement with the lower edges of the grids, which may thenswing forward by gravity to take up any space between the lower edges ofthe grids. Thus, the grids are continuously jogged into closely packedrelation at the lower or forward end of the magazine.

At the forward end of the rails 53 there are also a pair lof top stops59 which have downturned rear ends that receive adjusting screws 60, bymeans of which the stops 59 may be moved forwardly or rearwardly to alimited extent. In practice they are so adjusted as to extend over theupper ends of all of the forward grids except the foremost one, which isthus free to rise. But when the foremost grid is raised the stops 59prevent any of the grids behind it from being raised also, by frictionor otherwise.

Slidable in guides at the forward end of th magazine there are a pair ofpush fingers 61 which are adapted to engage beneath the lugs of theforemost grid. When these lingers are caused to rise simultaneously, bymeans hereinafter described, the foremost grid is lifted out ofengagement with the lside stops 54 and the bottom stop 55 and intoposition to be grasped by the transfer fingers.

At each side of the press 10 I mount a bracket in which is supported arearwardly projecting bar 62. In the present instance one of thesebrackets is mounted outside the press and the other inside', as will beseen from Fig; 2. On the bars 62 there are mounted two slides 63, whichare connected by a rock shaft 64 that is free to turn in bearingscarried by the slides; Each slide 63 has a depending projection to whichis pivotally connected an adjustable link 65, which is also pivotallyattached to a swing arm 66. These two swing arms are keyed at theirlower ends to the extremities of a a shaft 67, which is mounted inbearings in the frame 13. To this shaft 67 there is also keyed a linkarm 68, in the free end of which there is an anti-friction follower 69that engages the periphery of a cam 70 which is keyed or pinned to ashaft 71 that is also mounted in bearings in the Hence, as the shaft 71revolves, the cam 70 swings the arm 66 back and forth, causing theslides 63 to reciprocate upon the bars 62.

There are two sets of transfer fingers adapted to grip the lugs of thegrid. 'Ihese sets each consist of a. rigid finger 72 (see Fig. 3) thatis secured to or forms part of a bracket 73 which is keyed to the rockshaft 64, and a swinging finger 74 that is pivotally connected to thesame bracket. On the nger 72 I provide a stop 75 which is adapted toengage the upper edge o f the grid lug to determine accurately theextent to which the grid may enter the transfer fingers. Each bracket 73also carries an air cylinder 76 having a piston, not shown, which drivesa piston rod 77 that is pivotally connected at its lower end with ashort crank 78 secured to the pivot for the finger 74. A con- Whennection 79 is provided in the upper portion of the.. cylinder 76, bymeans of which air under pressure" may be admitted to swing the crank 78downward to close the fingers. The return of the latter to openposition, when the air pressure is removed, is effected by a retractilespring 80 attached at its upper end to a pin 81 on the bracket 73 and atits lower end to the pivot pin between the piston rod 77 and the crank78. The upper ends of the brackets 73 are preferably joined together bya brace rod 82 which supports a union 83 from which air conductors 84lead to the air connections 79 on the two cylinders, and from which aflexible hose 85 extends downwardly to the air valve, later to bedescribed. It will be obvious, of course, that vacuum action may besubstituted for fluid pressure action in the operation of these fingers.

The actuation of the transfer fingers necessitates theswinging of therock shaft 64, and this is effected by means of a crank 86 that issecured to one end of the shaft and carries at its free end a crank pin87 that runs in a guide slot in a swinging guide bar 88 that is pivotedat 89 to a bracket on the outer side of the press 10. 'I'he two extremepositions ofu the swinging guide 88 are shown in full and dotted linesin Fig. 3, and the corresponding positions of the brackets 73 andtransfer fingers are also similarly shown in that figure.

For swinging the guide bar 88, I attach to the lower side thereof by anysuitable means a connecting rod 90 that is, for convenience, madeadjustable as to length, and is pivoted at its lower` end to a crank 91that is keyed to a short shaft 92 journaled in one side member of theframe 13. Inside of this frame member this'same shaft carries a secondcrank arm 93, in the free end of which is mounted a follower 94 thatruns upon the peripheral surface of a cam 95 which is keyed to shaft 71.p

On one end of cam shaft 71 there is keyed a cam 96, with which afollower 97 cooperates.

This follower is mounted upon a lever 98 that swings upon a trunnion 99carried by the frame 13 or a bracket supported thereon. This levercarries an adjustable Contact4 pin 100 which engages the operating pinof a slide valve that is housed in a valve casing 101, to which the hose85 is connected. Another air conductor 102 leads from the valve to anyconvenient supply or source of compressed air or vacuum. It will beunderstood that the movement of the pin 100 in one direction serves toconnect the uid conductors 85 and 102, while its movement in theopposite direction breaks that connection and opens the conductor 85 toatmosphere.

The clutch 9 connecting the fly-wheel 20 with the' shaft 17, to set thepress in operation for one reciprocation of the plunger head, is trippedin the conventional manner, and this tripping action is effected inproperly timed relation to the other functions of the machine by a pushrod 103, which is pivoted at itslower extremity to a crank 104 that iskeyed or pinned to a rock shaft 105 journaled in the frame 13. A secondcrank arm 106 is also 4' secured upon the shaft4 105, and is connectedby a link 107 to the lowerl end of a bifurcated lever 108, between thebifurcations of which there is mounted a roller follower 109. The lever108 has a loose bearing at its upper end upon a shaft 110, likewisejournaled in the frame 13. The follower 109 contacts with the peripheryof a cam 111 keyed to shaft 71. As will be seen in Fig. 8, the high spotof this cam has a short angular dimension. Its

purpose is to give a quick, short impulse to the push rod 103 to tripthe press/ Referring again to the jogger mechanism which assists gravityin packing the grids together in the magazine, the connecting rods 58that are pivotally connected to the forward ends of the jogger rails 56are pivoted at their lower ends toy cranks 112 formed integral with arelatively long hub 113 which is loosely journaled upon shaft 67, seeFigs. 2 and 7. The hub 113 also carries an arm 114 with a cam follower115 at its lower end that runs upon a cam 116 keyed to shaft 71. Thismechanism, it will be observed, is such that a regular up and downmotion is transmitted to the joggerrails 56.

The push fingers 61, which serve to' raise the foremost grid in themagazine at the proper time, are somewhat flexible and are attacheddirectly to brackets 116 carried at the outer ends of crank arms 117that are keyed to shaft 110, see Figs. 2 and 6. On the same shaft thereis keyed another crank arm 118 which has a follower 119 rimning upon acam 120 that is keyed to cam shaft 71. M

'I'he cam shaft and its associated parts are driven in this instance bya separate motor 121, the shaft of which carries a pinion 122 thatmeshes with a gear'123 on a shaft 124. This shaft, if desired, may runthrough, the housing of and operate an air pump 125, used' for supplyingpressure fluid to the cylinders 76. A sleeve 126 surrounds shaft 124, towhich it may be connected by means of a clutch 127 of any suitable type,adapted to be operated by a clutch lever 128. At the outer end of thissleeve I mount a sprocket wheel 129 over which runs an endless chain130, which transmits driving force to a. sprocket 131 keyed to an 'outerend of cam shaft 7l.

Operation-It is the duty of the attendant t'o keep a supply of grids inthe magazine and periodically to remove trimmedvgrids from the forwardend of the delivery apparatus. A cycle of operations may be described asfollows: The push fingers 61 are caused to rise, and by their en- 120gagement with the lugs of the foremost grid, they raise the gridsufficiently to expose the lugs and to free the grid .from the side andbottom stops 54 and 55 respectively. At this time the transfer fingers72 and 74 are in the position illustrated 125 in Fig. 3, except that thefingers 74 are retracted by the springs 80. At this instant cam`96 actsto operate the air valve to admit pressure fluid to hose connection 85,whereby the piston; rods 77 are forced downwardly and the cranks 78 are130 operated to swing the fingers 74 to closed position, gripping thelugs "of the grid. Now, with the fingers 72, 74 remaining closed, thehigh spot of cam 95 comes into engagement with the follower 94 of arm93, and the swinging guide 135 bar 88 .is thereby raised from its fullline position of Fig. 3 to its dotted line position. This movement oftheguide bar acts through the pin and slot connection with crank 86 tovswing rock 140 shaft 64 in an anti-clockwise direction, as. viewed inFig. 3. The transfer fingers are thereby swung from the'full lineposition of Fig. 3 up to a position substantially in line with 'thedotted line position of thatv flgure. v After theswinging guide 88 ismoved to full line position (Fig. 3) or it may be while this isoccurring, the low part of cam 70 begins to engage its follower, and thearm" 66 begins to swing from its full line position toward its dottedline 150 position, Fig. 3, the movement in this direction being effectedby springs'or the like, not shown.

J When the parts reach the dotted line position of Fig. 3 the cam 96acts to operate valve 101 in the opposite direction, opening thecylinders '76 Y to exhaust, whereupon the fingers '74 swing to asv openposition under the iniiuence of springs 80. The cam 70 then acts toagain swing the arms 66 toward the right in Fig. 3, moving the slides 63back to their initial position, where they remain a major portion of thetime of each cycle.

As soon vas the transfer lingers are out of the` way, cam 111 operatesthrough the mechanism heretofore described to trip the press, and theplunger head 15 thereof descends, makes its cut, and returns to itsupper position, when the clutch 9 between the fiy-wheel 20 and the shaft17 is automatically disengaged. The revolution of the shaft 17 howeveroperates through lever 44 and connecting rod 50 to advance thedeliverychains 38 and to operate the trap door ejector 29.

'Ihe cycle is then completed and a new cyclei begins. During each cyclehowever the cam 116 raises and lowers the jogger rails 56, in order toinsure the close stacking of the grids in the magazine. y

In the foregoing description I have necessarily gone somewhat intodetail in order to explain fully the particular embodiments of theinvenvmeans for raising the forward grid in the magazine part way out ofthe stack, gripping means adapted to receive the said grid as it israised and to grasp it when raised, and means for causing the saidgripping means to move to another position, to place the grid on thetrimming die and to release the grid.

2. In a press for trimming storage battery grids, a trimming die, amagazine for supporting the grids on edge -in closely' stacked relation,means for raising the forward grid in the maga- Zine part way out of thestack, and gripping means mounted to have both swinging and bodilymovement arranged to receive the said grid as it iscausing saidmechanism to grasp the forward grid in said magazine at one edge of thegrid, to swing the same thereafter into a plane parallel with the planeof said die and to advance the grid in the latter plane the oppositeedge foremost' into operative position between said die and punch.

4. Inra press for trimming storage battery grids, a trimming die set ina given plane, a trimming punch cooperating therewith, amagazine forsupporting the grids on edge one behind the other in planes at an angleto the plane of the die, grid transfer mechanism, means for causing saidmechanism to grasp the forward grid in said magazine at one edge of thegrid, to swing the. same thereafter into a plane parallel with the planeof said die and to advance the grid in the latter plane the oppositeedge foremost into operative position upon the die, and means timed withthe operation of said transfer mechanism for tripping the press to causesaid punch to advance on its working stroke after the grid is inposition upon the die.

5. In a machine of the class described, a magazine for supporting aseries of grids on edge one behind the other, means for maintaining thegrids in the magazine in closely packed relation, stops at the forwardend of the magazine, means for raising the forward grid parallel toitself suinciently to clear said stops, and transfer mechanism timed inits action to receive the forward grid as it is raised and to transferit bodily into position to be operated upon.

6. In a machine of the class described, a fixed guide, a slide mountedthereon, a pair of grid grippers pivotally mounted on said slide, apivoted guide, a crank carried by said grid grippers, a crank pin insaid crank arranged toslidably contact with said pivoted guide, meansfor swinging said pivoted guide, and means for causing said slide totravel upon said fixed guide whereby the grid grippers are caused toswing from one transverse plane to another and to travel bodily.

7. In a press for trimming storage battery grids, a magazine adapted tosupport grids on edge, and

means for transferring grids one at a time fromsaid magazine to positionfor trimming, comprising transfer fingers adapted t0 swing and to movebodily, a shaft, means for rotating the same, a series of cams mountedon said shaft, means actuatedby one of said cams for opening and closingthe fingers, means actuated by another of said cams for swinging thefingers, and means actuated by still another of said cams for moving thengers bodily.

. 8. In a press for trimming storage battery grids, a trimming die andpunch, a magazine adapted to support grids on edge, transfer fingersadapted to swing and to move bodily for transferring the forward gridout of the magazine into position to be trimmed, a shaft, means forrotating the same, a series of cams mounted on said shaft, meansactuated by one of said cams for opening and closing the fingers, meansactuated by another of said cams for swinging the fingers, meansactuated by another of said cams for moving the iingers'bodily, and'means actuated by still another of said cams for tripping the press tocause the ,punch to be advanced to the work and then retracted.

9. In a press for trimming storage battery grids, a trimming die4 andpunch, a .magazine adapted to support grids on edge one directly behindthe other, means for lifting the foremost grid, transfer fingers adaptedto receive and grasp said grid and to swing and to move bodily, wherebythe grids may be transferred one at a time from said magazine totrimming position between said die and punch, a shaft, means forrotating the same, a series of cams mounted on said shaft, meansactuated by one of said cams for operating said grid lifting means,means actuated by another of saidv cams for opening and closing thetransfer lingers,l means actuated by another of said cams for swingingthe fingers,

means actuated by another of said cams for moving the fingers bodily,and means actuated by still another of said cams for tripping the pressto cause the punch to be advanced to the Work and then retracted.

10. In a press for trimming storage battery grids, a trimming die andpunch, a magazine having inclined rails for supporting grids on edge,means for jogging the grids so as to cause them to pack closely onebehind another at the lower end of the magazine, means for lifting theforemost grid, transfer fingers adapted to receive and grasp said gridand to swing and move bodily, whereby the grids may be transferred oneat a time from said magazine to trimming position between said die andpunch, a shaft, means for rotating the same, a series of cams mounted onsaid shaft, means actuated by one of said cams for operating saidjogging means, means actuated by another' of said cams for operatingsaid grid lifting means, means actuated by another of said cams foropening and closing the transfer fingers, means actuated by another ofsaid cams for swinging the iingers, means actuated by another of saidcams for moving the ngers bodily, and means actuated by still another ofsaid cams for tripping the press to cause the punch t0 be advanced tothe work and then retracted.

11. In mechanism for transferring grids one at a time from a magazine toa work position in a plane at an angle to the grids in the magazine,which comprises a bodly movable element, a member pivoted thereoncarrying one finger, a second nger hinged t'o said member, a uidpressure cylinder carried by said member operatively connected with saidsecond finger, a exible pressure fiuid connection to said cylinder, me-

chanical means for moving said element bodily and for swinging saidmember, and means controlled in timed relation to said bodily movementand swinging movement for supplying pressure uid to said cylinder andexhausting it therefrom to open and close the ngers.

12. In a grid trimming press, a trimming die upon which the grid is tobe supported, a trimming punch, means to reciprocate the latter towardand away from the die, means operatively connected with saidreciprocating means for dislodging and discharging the grid from the die-after the cut is made, a pair of parallel chains spaced apart adistance approximately the same as the spacing of the lugs on the gridsand positioned to catch the grids by their lugs as they are dischargedfrom the die, and means also driven by said reciprocating means foradvancing the chains slowly in proportion to the operations of thepress.

13. In a grid trimming press, a trimming die set at a small angle to thehorizontal, stops projecting from the die for engagement with the lugson the grids, a trimming punch, means to reciprocate the latter towardand away from the die, means operatively connected with saidreciprocating means for moving the grid and stops relatively to eachother in order that the trimmed grid may be discharged by gravity fromthe die, a pair of parallel chains spaced apart a distance approximatelythe same as the spacing of the lugs on the grids, and positioned tocatch the grids by their lugs as they are discharged from the die, andmeans also driven by said reciprocating means for advancing the chainsslowly in proportion to the operations of the press.

14. In a grid trimming press, a trimming die upon which the grid is tobe supported, a trimming punch, means to reciprocate the latter towardand away from the die, means operatively. connected with saidreciprocating means for dislodging and discharging the grid from the dieafter the cut is made, a pair of parallel chains spaced apart a distanceapproximately the same as the spacing of `the lugs on the grids andpositioned to catch the vgrids by their lugs as they are discharged fromthe die, and pawl and ratchet means driven by said reciprocating meansfor advancing the chains step by step in proportion to the number ofoperations of the press.

15. In a grid trimming press, a trimming die set at a small angle tothe'horizontal, a pair of stops projecting upwardly from the die forengagement with the lugs on the grid, a trimming punch, means toreciprocate the latter toward and away from the die, means operativelyconnected with said reciprocating means for raising the grid sufcientlyto dislodge it from the die and to clear said stops, whereby the trimmedgrid may be discharged by gravity from the die, a pair of parallelchains spaced apart a distance approximately the same as the spacing ofthe lugs on the grids and positioned to catch the grids by their lugs asthey are discharged from the die, and means also driven by saidreciprocating means for advancing the chains slowly in proportion to theoperations of the press.

16. In a grid trimming press, a trimming die set at a small angle to thehorizontal, a pair of stops projecting upwardly from the die forengagement with the lugs on the grid, a trimming punch, means toreciprocate the latter toward and away from the die, a trap door in thedie hinged at its lower edge to lie below the normal position of thegrid upon the die, and means operatively connected with saidreciprocating means for swinging said trap door upwardly to dislodge thegrid from the die and to tilt the higher end of the grid upwardly farenough to clear said stops, whereby the trimmed grid may be dischargedby gravity from the die.

17. In a grid trimming press, a xed die, a reciprocating punch carryinga knife adapted to cut away a portion of the grid overhanging one edgeof the die, and means for positively removing the trimmings comprising astripper carried by the punch in position to engage the portions of thegrid to be trimmed as the punch descends to the work, and resilientmeans for storing up energy behind said stripper while the cut is beingmade, whereby the stripper remains in engagement with the'trimmingsduring the retraction of the punch, and thereby strips the trimmingsfrom the punch.

18. In a grid trimming press, a fixed die, a reciprocating punchcooperating therewith carrying a knife adapted to cut away a portion ofthe grid overhanging one edge of the die, and means for positivelyremoving the trimmings comprising a stripper plate hinged to the punchin position to engage the material to be removed from the grid bytrimming, and means also carried by the punch for resiliently resistingthe swinging of the stripper plate, and thereby storing up energy behindsaid stripper plate as the latter swings during the making oi' the cut,whereby the stripper plate tends to snap off the trimmings when thepunch recedes from the work. 19 In a machine of the class described, amagazine for supporting a series of twin grids on edge one behindanother, said magazine comprising a pair of rails for engagement withthe lower edges of the lugs of the grids, stops at the forward endl ofthe magazine in front of the lugs and lower edge of the foremost grid,means for raising the the grids, stops at the forward end of the magalzine in front of the lugs and lower edge of the foremost grid, means forraising the foremost grid suiciently to clear said stops, and transfermechanism timed in its action to receive the foremost grid as it israised, to swing it into a plane 'parallel with the plane of said die,and to advance it in the latter plane into operative position betweensaid die and punch.

ALFRED R. WILLARD.

